Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Takin' a Dip

You all have greatly encouraged me to take the plunge into creativity. Even though I am not quite ready to totally leave the dock - I am thrilled to report that I have dipped in my big toe and it feels great!

While I haven't taken a trip to Dairy Queen lately (where I need to report that my favorite blizzard flavor is Cappuccino Chip) - I did go to a fabric store and purchased material for the sudoku quilt idea. I am SO excited!

I new that I wanted to focus on purples because of the Grandmother issue and the fact that I have embraced the poem, When I Grow Old I Shall Wear Purple.....but I also really love soft greens and turquoise (which happen to coordinate well with purple on the color wheel). So these are the batiks that I chose for this first quilt.

I spent this evening pre-washing the material, ironing, and cutting out.

Now as my husband commented....this is not your grandmother's quilt - and it does take a bit of preparation and organization to complete. I have placed each of the nine different materials in baggies to keep them organized (and also identified them each a post-it note). I plan to take out only one piece at a time as I work on the corresponding block. I am hoping that this helps eliminate confusion - which at this stage in life, is quite a welcomed concept.

I then cut a swatch of each of the nine materials and made myself a cheat-sheet - so that I could properly follow the sudoku pattern without much mishap. Since the colors are very similar - I am hoping that this swatch card will help me to follow the "pattern" I envision each square as its own abstract painting - although a bit different from one another. Watercolors always seem so serene to me and evoke feelings of peace and relaxation. Who knows what I will actually end up with.

I googled searched "completed sudoku puzzles" and found this image. I think it will work as good as any. The concept is to use the same nine fabrics in a nine different combinations - thus creating a 'sudoku' puzzle out of colors and patterns rather than out of numbers. The possibilities are endless!

I also have an idea of doing a quilt for my son using only black/white fabrics with a splash of red. We'll see how this one works out first.

So there you have my quilt idea. Not quite a literary concept - but it has been influenced by my novel idea that focuses on the Impressionists.

I will also share a few of the poems I have found this week in Caroline Kennedy's anthology, She Walks in Beauty. I am thoroughly enjoying this book - and I appreciate that Ms. Kennedy is teaching me to s-l-o-w down and enjoy the language and images of these thoughtful pieces.

I love your fabric choices! You have inspired me to pull my quilting supplies out of the closet. I'm not an expert yet, so a nine-patch sounds right up my alley. I haven't sewed a stitch since I went to work at the library in 2005. Thanks for sharing your project and getting me moving again. Can't wait to see it completed.

oh Molly its going to be gorgeous! I've only recently discovered batiks but they're so beautiful. Please keep us posted on your progress--you know I'm a beginning quilter nut!

I've been buying up red, black, and white fabrics as well but have no idea what to do with them yet. I've learned that my fabric buying habits are slowly turning out to be like my book buying habits. Once upon a time I used to buy books to read them right then. Then I bought them for one day. Same with fabrics--only had on hand for current project but now I'm buying anything that I might like to use later. ;)

You are way further than I've gotten with my quilt - and i started it 10 years ago! Of course i can blame huge life changes over those 10 years, but really, you've planned the quilt and all I've done is one log square (for a log cabin quilt). I'm impressed, Molly. I hope you are enjoying being creative too, and not worrying about it being perfect. (sorry, not sure why I said that, I think I'm a bit awed that you picked a suduko pattern on top of it!)